Prom Queen No More
by buffylovesfaith
Summary: Sunnydale's own prom queen Buffy Anne Summers is about to enter her first semester of college. She's looking forward to a fun and exciting year, but there's one thing standing in the way...her new, annoying roommate, Faith Lehane. Faith/Buffy. (college roommates, nonsupernatural au.)
1. Chapter 1

"I can't believe you're not gonna come with me!" Buffy Summers pouted from where she was draped over her bed, holding her recently acquired prom queen crown in one hand, her other hand tucked underneath her head. Makeup containers in various stages of spilling lay all over her dresser, and her satin pink gown was thrown casually on her overstuffed corduroy chair, the evidence of a long and fruitful night. "Who am I going to go to parties with? Who am I gonna meet eligible, cute, non-sleazy guys with? I mean God, going from prom queen to starting college all by myself!" Buffy's voice ended in a slightly wobbly screech as she reached the end of her sentence.

"Yeah, well just consider yourself lucky I still _am_ your friend after you managed to snatch the crown right from under my nose," Cordelia Chase sniffed. She continued brushing her hair in front of Buffy's vanity mirror. "And I told you, I have greater things planned. Cordelia Chase is no ordinary college girl, oh no, I am going to be known all over the world! Everyone's always told me I have real theatrical talent." She stood up and made a vague sweeping motion with her arm, adopting a silly looking expression of "far off wonderment" that Buffy knew she was supposed to be taking seriously.

"Oh, you're theatrical all right," Buffy grumbled. "Not to mention too broke to afford admission...".

"Oh, stop being cranky," Cordelia sat down on the bed and swatted Buffy's foot. "Besides, I've said a million times, why don't you come with me? Then we could both be famous actresses!"

"I don't know, Cordy...I told you, I just don't think acting is really my thing. I have no desire to stand up in front of large amounts of people and-"

"You managed to do that tonight at the ceremony," Cordelia interjected somewhat bitterly.

"-AND until I do know what my thing is, I think my best bet is going to college and figuring it out."

"Have it your way. I'll give you my love from Broadway!" Cordelia blew her an exaggerated air kiss. "It's too bad Harmony bit it last week, or she could have come with you," she added as an after thought.

"Cordy!" Buffy wasn't sure if she could ever get used to her best friend's blase attitude. She knew weird things happened in Sunnydale, but the death of their friend still deserved respect!

Cordelia shrugged. "Whatever. Let's go to sleep, I'm exhausted."

The girls finished getting into their pajamas, removing their heavy party makeup and brushing their teeth. They both climbed into Buffy's bed, and, drained from the long day, promptly fell asleep.

After spending the day helping Cordelia pack the last of her stuff, Buffy found herself at the bus station waving as her best friend was driven out of her town, and out of her life. _Okay, I'm being a little dramatic. But it's true, isn't it? Who knows when I'm gonna see her again_. Buffy walked back to her house, and sat in her room for the rest of the day, feeling lonely.

The summer had proven to be totally boring, as Buffy had expected it would be. Cordy had wanted to leave at the beginning of summer to find an apartment and get a head start on her "career", and Buffy's mom was always working at the gallery. Buffy realized she really didn't have any friends besides Cordelia (and Harmony, who of course was dead now). They'd always liked it like that, no one else was good enough to hang with them and all that, but now that they were both gone, Buffy was all alone. _Being alone sucks! I hope I meet some new friends at college, and soon_ , Buffy thought as she lay in bed the night before she was moving into her dorm room. _Tomorrow better go well_.

The next afternoon, Buffy found herself wandering the halls of her new school somewhat dazedly. Orientation had felt like a whirl wind, and she still had one more class to check into. Unfortunately, she hadn't slept that well the night before, and ended up falling asleep towards the middle of the teacher's lecture. After being reprimanded for falling asleep on the first day, she scurried out of the classroom with burning cheeks, clutching her books in one arm and her fuzzy purple pen in the other. _God, that was so embarrassing! Way to screw up on the first day Buffy. Well not even the first day-classes haven't really even started yet! Ugh…_ Buffy sighed to herself. _I guess I better go check on where my room is._

After stumbling through her dorm building looking for room 26 for longer than she would like to admit, Buffy decided on just knocking on a random door and asking somebody.

 _ **Knock, knock, knock.**_ Buffy rapped her knuckles on her chosen door.

"Yeah?" A deep voice called from inside the room. A few seconds later the door swung open to reveal a girl about Buffy's height, maybe a little taller, with wild curly brown hair and deep dark eyes, wearing a lot of makeup and clothes Buffy would never be caught dead in. "Hello?" she asked, crossing her arms in front of her and leaning on the door jamb after Buffy didn't say anything. "Did you want something?"

"Oh...um, yes. Do you know where room 26 is?"

The girl looked incredulous as she raised her eyes to the number of the open door she was standing in front of, half a smirk on her lips. _Twenty six...great._

"Oh...ha ha ha, that's so weird, I can't believe I didn't see that". Buffy screamed at herself internally for how dumb she sounded. "So… Are you in here? I mean, are you staying in this room too?" The girl just nodded with her eyebrows raised slightly, the little smile still on her face. "Okay. Well, that's cool. I didn't realize we were gonna have roommates. I guess I should have assumed, I've seen _Undeclared_." At that the mystery girl snickered slightly, her dark eyes glinting, and Buffy couldn't tell if she was trying to be mean or not.

"Well, come on in, cutie. Now you know that we're...roommates," she grinned, "what are you waiting for?"

"Nothing," Buffy muttered, face warming slightly as she stepped around the brunette and into the room.. _That was...weird, wasn't it?_

"So...I see you already chose a bed?" Buffy asked.

"Yup," was the reply.

Buffy continued to look at her, expecting a "but we can switch if you want", or something to that effect.

"I like the right side. Plus you were like an hour late." _Okaaayyy...Well, whatever. This bed is nicer anyway. Closer to the window. With the pretty sunshine. That might be a problem in the mornings though. I should get some shades or something..._

"So, what's your name, hot stuff?"

Buffy was startled out of her thoughts and slightly shocked at being called that. "What? Oh, uh, Buffy. A-and can you not call me that?" Buffy asked, flushing, and feeling uncomfortable for some reason.

"Well, now that I know your name I don't have to. Why, does it bother you?" Mystery girl again smirked at her.

"Uh, well, it's-it's kind of weird. I mean, we just met."

"All right, whatever you say." The girl turned slightly and closed the door that lead out into the hallway. Buffy felt an odd swoop of nervousness and dread, being locked in the room with just this girl. _Okay, calm down, Buffy. For one thing, you're not locked in, the door's just closed. And this is the beginning of your new life, remember? Your fun college life! Relax._

Buffy sat down on her bed and rustled through her pink plush backpack, pretending to be busy looking for something. She was feeling awkward. It had been a long time since she'd had to socialize with someone who didn't already know who she was.

The girl walked up to her (getting closer than she had to, Buffy thought). "Whatcha lookin' for?"

Buffy jumped slightly, probably looking like a total freak. "Oh, uh, um...my lip gloss." She felt a tube in a side pocket of her bag and pulled it out, brandishing it in the air.

"Okay. You gotta desperate need for some lip gloss, huh? You're digging in there like your life's about to end."

" _No_ , I just, you know, like to look presentable. There's nothing wrong with looking your best! I mean, it's been a long day and I...". Buffy's mind detached from her body as her mouth continued to verbalize words without her consent. _Oh my God...this needs to end. Why am I babbling. Why. Way to make a good first impression on your roommate_. But she could not control it.

Finally the river of words stopped and the girl stood there, looking a little stunned.

"Okaaay...Yeah, no problem, primp away. Not that you need it." She smiled.

"...I will. Thank you."

Buffy got up and walked into the bathroom, taking her lip gloss with her. She closed the door and leaned against it, breathing out slowly and pressing the heels of her hands against her eyes. She caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed a bright red. Great.

Buffy walked to the sink and splashed some water on her face, then reapplied her lip gloss. Okay, she didn't look half bad. Time to go out for round two.

The door creaked as Buffy opened it.

"Hey...".

The girl turned around from where she was folding clothes and putting them into a dresser.

"Yeah?"

"I-I'm sorry, I don't remember what your name was?"

"Yeah, you didn't ask."

"Oh, um...what is it?"

"Faith."

"Oh, Faith. That's pretty. Nice to meet you, Faith."

"Right back at ya, Blondie." Faith grinned quickly then turned back to the task at hand.

Buffy felt an irrational twinge of annoyance. "I already told you my name is Buffy."

"Yeah, I remember. But I'm gonna call you B. It's great 'cause it works for Blondie, and Buffy, and...other things."

"What? What _other things_?" Buff asked indignantly with narrowed eyes.

"Ah, nothin', don't worry about it."

"Well, I don't like it. I want you to call me by my real name. And if you insist on giving me a nickname for whatever reason, I want it to be one I approve of. And I don't."

Faith snickered. "Sorry, _B_ , there ain't much you can do about it. Short of taping my mouth shut."

Buffy's mouth opened and closed silently. _What the hell is this girl's problem?_ "W..w...well I just may have to do that!" She fumed. She stomped over to her bed and sat down with a thump. "You should probably sleep with one eye open."

"Sure thing, B. I mean, I'm terrified over here."

"Auugh!" Buffy made an annoyed growling noise. Usually she didn't stoop to such animalistic levels of communication, but this girl was really getting to her. She reached into her backpack for the notebook she had written her notes in, and sat, studiously studying (well, part of the time...most of the time she was pretending) until it was an acceptable time to go to bed. Neither of the girls talked to each other for the rest of the night. When it had been dark outside for a few hours, Buffy pulled her pajamas out of a trunk which had been brought into the room and stood at the foot of her bed, and went into the bathroom and changed. She lay down in bed and turned off her lamp, and tried to ignore the light coming from Faith's half of the room.

Several hours later, Buffy couldn't get to sleep, and Faith's light still was not off. Finally she couldn't contain her irritation anymore. "Will you PLEASE turn that light off? It's the middle of the night here!"

Faith was sitting in a pair of boxer shorts and a tank top, reading what looked like a comic book under the light of the lamp on her bedside table. She didn't glance up as she replied. "It's not that late. It's like one."

"That's late for me! I don't know what kind of vampire you are, but I actually go to sleep when the sun goes bye bye. And I wake up when it comes back again. You know, like a normal person? And tomorrow is the first day of classes!"

"Chill, B. You'll have plenty of time to sleep when you're dead."

Once again Buffy's mouthed gaped as she was lost at what to say to other girl.

"I'm not worried about being dead! I'm worried about now! I'm tired!"

"Look...I'll turn it down, okay? But we're gonna have to get used to living together. And I'm not gonna be going to bed at eight o'clock like a baby just 'cause you do."

"I am NOT a baby! Getting enough sleep is very important to your health and looks."

"Well thanks, but I don't think I need any help in that department."

"Auggh!" Buffy could again only screech in annoyance as she rolled over swiftly. Luckily, Faith kept her word and the lights dimmed, and Buffy was finally able to fall asleep. She only had time for one last thought before she fell asleep.

 _I can't believe I have to live with someone like her. This is gonna be a nightmare._

Buffy groaned and squinted as her eyes flickered open. The light coming from the window was falling directly into her eyeballs. _Ugh...damn sunshine. So...sunshiney. I really need to get some curtains._

Disoriented, she turned to look at the clock that was supposed to be right next to her head. But it wasn't there. Then she remembered that instead of being at home in her own, very fluffy and comfortable bed, she was here, in her new dorm room, with her exasperating roommate. Buffy suppressed the urge to groan aloud and instead whimpered internally, thinking of the days and weeks ahead. The struggle to feel relaxed with Faith around. The struggle to study with Faith around. The struggle to sleep with Faith around. The struggle to do anything with Faith around.

Buffy heaved herself out of bed and opened her trunk, looking for her jewelry box. She kept a watch in there that was mostly for fashion purposes, but it should still have the time on it.

 _8:15. Shit! My first class starts in 30 minutes!_

After the most hasty getting ready session of her life, Buffy was prepared to go out the door. When she was almost all of the way out, she noticed that Faith still lay in a sprawled heap in her bed, sound asleep. For a minute Buffy thought about waking her up. _Whatever. Serves her right for staying up all night. Maybe now she'll think twice about messing with me!_

Buffy hurried through clogged halls, clutching her class schedule in one hand, desperately trying to find her second classroom. The buildings were a lot more congested than they had been on orientation day. Buffy spotted the door to the classroom she was supposed to be in and had almost reached it when, in her haste, she accidentally tripped and fell into something small and soft.

"Ahh!" A voice squeaked out from in between Buffy and the wall where the person (because it was most likely a person) was wedged.

"Oh my God!" Buffy exclaimed loudly as she pulled back from the person (for indeed it was a person) she had stumbled into. "I'm so sorry!" she said, looking into the eyes of the redheaded girl. "Did I hurt you? I didn't mean to do that—I was just trying to get into the classroom in time and you weren't there, but then you were, or maybe you were there all along, and I-" she paused for breath, not knowing where she was going with this.

"Oh, no, don't worry about it! I do stuff like that all the time." The girl giggled. "I've got two left feet. S-so...you're taking Literature too?"

Buffy nodded and smiled. "Yup. Hopefully I do better in this class than high school English."

"Oh, I love Literature! I took honors Literature in high school. This was the class I was most excited for. Professor Burns is supposed to be amazing. I've been shopping for school supplies all week...". She trailed off as she saw Buffy's face fall, "and I'm gonna stop talking now."

"It's okay," Buffy smiled. "I'm just...a little overwhelmed. I just hope these college classes aren't too much for me to keep up with. I'm not so much with the book smart...ness. My first class was Algebra, and I'm already way out of my league."

"I'm sure that's not true! Everyone can do well in class, it just takes different methods for different people. And I can always help you with studying or tutoring or anything like that."

"That would be great. I would say let's wait and see if I can manage, but if I'm being honest I'm definitely gonna need it. And speaking of what I need to do, right now we need to get into that classroom or we're gonna be late."

The redhead's eyes widened comically. "Oh my God!" She squealed. "How did I forget?" With that she rushed off, Buffy following close on her heels.

Literature was, as Buffy had predicated, boring and intimidating. The teacher spoke at such a rapid fire pace that Buffy could barely jot down any notes. She was already starting to panic a little. _So, how soon will I have to drop out and become a stripper teen mom? Clearly that's the only future open to me…_

Luckily it had to end sometime. As Buffy was walking out the door, relieved that she had made it through at least part of her first day, she was met by the red haired girl she'd talked to earlier.

"Hey!" The girl nearly yelled, seemingly nervous. She blushed slightly. "I meant, uh, hey. I-I was wondering...I mean, most people usually eat lunch around this time, and if you don't have anyone to sit with o-or you don't know where to go, I mean, not that you wouldn't to either of those things, but maybe you would want to have lunch with me?"

Buffy's brain took a second to work out what the girl was saying. She wanted them to eat lunch together...to hang out with each other basically. The girl didn't look like any of Buffy's other friends. Instead of a stylish skirt/top combo or minidress, she wore a lime green t-shirt with a picture of a kitten across the front and a long flowy rap around skirt in a style and pattern that totally clashed with the shirt. She had short, flippy red hair, and bright smile and an eager look in her eyes. She certainly wasn't someone Buffy would usually hangout with. At first she was unsure. _What the hell. She seems nice. And who's here to keep tabs on who I spend time with? No one, that's who._

"Sure, I'd like that." Buffy smiled. "And you're right, I don't have any idea where to eat here."

"I can show you! I was here during the summer for an extra credit program. Oh, and what's your name?"

"Buffy. What's yours?"

"Willow. Willow Rosenberg." She blushed slightly, smiling shyly at the ground.

"Nice to meet you, Willow Rosenberg."

"Nice to meet you too." The two girls started walking down the long, echo-y hallway together.

"I'm really glad you agreed to sit with me," Willow was saying, "Usually I would sit with Tara, but she's in our room sick today. I wanted to stay with her to help, but she wouldn't let me. She said she'd be fine, and she didn't want me to miss the first day. Plus I have to get her assignments for her."

"Who's Tara?"

"O-oh, she's a friend." Willow said, blushing brighter than she had all afternoon.

Buffy hurried into her room, carrying a heavy load of textbooks she had picked up from the library. She'd had a really nice time with Willow; eating, laughing, and just relaxing. But now she had to get cracking, her school work wasn't going to do itself. And she was going to do it alone, she hadn't wanted to ask Willow for help on their very first day. _I mean, can you say lame? I will have to ask pretty soon though._

As Buffy entered, she noticed Faith out of the corner of her eye. She was sitting on her bed, and…

"Are you _smoking_?"

Faith glanced up lazily from the same book she had been reading the night before. "Don't ya have eyes, B?"

"Yes, Faith! I have eyes! That's why I can tell that you're smoking! In a room in which not only you live!"

"You mind?"

"What does it look like, Faith?" Buffy shrieked, on nearly a hysterical level. "I'm not going to get lung cancer because of you! Besides, it smells. If you need to have that nasty and dumb habit, you're going to have to take it outside. That should have already been obvious for anyone who understands common decency."

"Fine, B. I'll go outside when I feel like a smoke if it means so much to you. And speaking of common decency, nice of you to wake me up this morning. Really, I appreciate it. Luckily my first class didn't start till twelve today. Of course, you didn't know that."

"I..." Buffy deflated slightly. That had been a pretty bitchy thing to do. She'd just been so mad! "You're right. I should have woken you up. I'm...sorry."

Faith looked slightly surprised. "Yeah?"

Buffy sighed. "Yes, Faith. Look, I can try if you can try. Maybe we can get to know each other...or something."

Faith grinned suddenly. "Sure, B. We're gonna have fun."

Buffy wasn't so sure of that. "Sure."

"What you don't believe it?"

"It's not that I don't believe-"

"I can show you a good time, Blondie." Faith smiled widely and winked at Buffy, who flushed slightly.

"O-okay." She cleared her throat. "Well, I guess we can plan...something. After I get out of the shower."

Faith's eyes quickly swept her body. "K."

Buffy turned stiffly and all but ran into the bathroom. Why did she always find herself escaping to this room?

Buffy followed quickly behind Faith, who was leading her down a dark sidewalk. She had been promised they were on their way to a "bitchin' party", but it was dark and cold and desolate and it seemed instead that she was being lead nowhere. Buffy walked with her arms around herself and shivered hard. Her crushed velvet spaghetti strap dress didn't offer much warmth.

"You cold, B?"

"Y-y-yeah."

"Here." Faith stopped walking ahead, and when Buffy had caught up Faith grabbed her and wrapped her arms around her upper arms and chest. Buffy was a little taken aback but relaxed into the slight warmth of Faith's hard jean jacket. She turned her head and Faith stared into her eyes.

"Better?" She asked, slowly rubbing her hands up and down Buffy's arms.

Buffy couldn't take the intense eye contact and looked down. "Um, yup."

Faith leaned closer and practically whispered in her ear. "Yeah, you like that?"

Buffy flushed and jerked in her arms, trying to get away. "Faith!" _This girl is seriously weird._

Faith snickered and loosened her hold on her. "Jeez, B, relax, I'm joking. Now stop trying to buck me off or you're gonna freeze."

"Ugh." Buffy rolled her eyes but stayed in Faith's arms.

"Y'know, you wouldn't be so cold if you'd worn something a little less...tiny." Faith breathed near her ear, holding her tight. "But I guess beauty is pain, huh? My mom used to say that."

"Well I probably wouldn't have worn this if I knew we were going to have to walk for ten miles! Now let's hurry up."

They walked awkwardly a few more blocks until they heard music booming from a large house. Buffy looked up at the dark wooden walls in apprehension. She would have suspected it was an abandoned haunted house if she didn't know better.

When they reached the driveway filled with people, Faith finally let go of Buffy, but grabbed her by the hand and lead her purposefully through the crowd. She weaved her way around the populated lawn, and into the dimly lit house. Buffy glanced around at all the people drinking and dancing and making out in dark corners.

"Here ya go, B." Buffy glanced down and saw that Faith was handing her a cup of foamy beer. She took it and took a tentative sip, wrinkling her nose at the gross taste.

"Uck, that's nasty." She glanced over and saw Faith downing her cup in one go, head tilted back. She lowered her head and crushed the cup in her hand when she was finished, licking her lips.

"Yeah, I've had better. Oh well, I'm sure it'll get the job done, right B?"

Buffy had a feeling she knew what the girl meant by that. "Well, I'm not planning on getting shit faced in a random house in the middle of nowhere, so no, I don't think so."

"Yeah, we'll see about that." Faith grinned and lead her deeper into the party.

An hour later and Buffy stood against a wall frowning, her eyes on the brunette girl she'd come with. Faith was pretty drunk and laughing loudly on the dance floor with a group of three guys. She'd been trying to get Buffy to relax and "party" with her, but Buffy was not having it.

Buffy watched as Faith pulled one of the three guys into a corner with her, and rolled her eyes. Soon they were making out heavily, Faith running her hands up and down the guy's body, and Buffy felt a faint sense of disappointment and sadness. _I knew I shouldn't have tried to spend time with this girl._

Buffy saw Faith being lead away from the corner and up the stairs by the guy, and called her name out through the crowd, but either wasn't heard or was being ignored. She breathed out sharply and shook her head, anger rising in her slowly.

She spent the next two hours searching through the house's seemingly endless rooms looking for Faith (and seeing some things she hadn't wanted to see in the process.) She was about to give up and chance getting lost to walk back to her dorm room herself when she saw Faith emerge alone from behind a door.

"Faith!" Faith swiveled her head slowly and narrowed her eyes, still looking kind of drunk and confused.

"B?"

"Where the hell have you been? I've been looking all over for you!"

Faith smiled slightly and tilted her head backwards to the room she'd come from. "I've been here, B."

"Yeah, well how was I supposed to know that, huh?" She grabbed Faith by the arm. "Come on, we're going." Faith surprisingly made no protest and, stumbling slightly, she followed Buffy down the steps and out the front door.

"Uhhhh..." Buffy woke up to a quiet groaning noise coming from the other side of the room. She looked to her right and saw Faith sleepily rubbing her eyes, squinting from the sunlight, her hair a rats nest.

Buffy wanted to ignore her but against her own will she asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine...I just need some water." She sat up and grabbed a stale water bottle from her dresser and drank from it. "Ahh...that was a fun party, huh?"

Buffy ground her teeth. "Are you serious?"

Faith looked up. "What?"

"You totally ditched me Faith! I came to spend time with you and get to know you, to give us a chance to get along, and you spent the whole time getting drunk and making out with various guys and doing whatever else. And then I didn't even know where you were! You disappeared and I wasted hours looking for you! And then when I finally found you I didn't know where the hell this god forsaken house was that you had taken me to, and you were no help. It took me TWO HOURS while lost and dragging your drunk ass around to find my way back here."

Faith looked at her with hard eyes. "It's a party, that's what we went there to do and I'm not gonna-"

"You know what Faith, think what you want, but this isn't worth it to me. I knew it wasn't going to work out for us to try to be friends. You just...do your thing and I'll do mine. We don't have to spend time together, okay? We'll just try to coexist as peacefully as we can."

For a second Buffy thought Faith looked sad but then she looked at Buffy and her expression hardened.

"Fine. I should've known you would freak out if you saw anyone having fun, 'cause God knows you can't. Or is it just 'cause it's me, is that what the problem is? I know you don't like me."

"I can have fun Faith. I just like to be considerate while I do it."

Faith stared at Buffy, breathing hard and clenching her hands into fists.

"Fine!" She stood up suddenly and rushed into the bathroom, and slammed the door. The sound of running shower water came on.

Buffy sighed and got out of bed, starting to get ready for class.


	2. Chapter 2

Buffy sat munching on a chicken and bacon wrap, listening to Willow ramble on about the pros and cons of auditioning for a certain role in the school play. Well, at least that's what Buffy thought she was talking about. Okay, so maybe she wasn't being the best listener right now and was mostly stewing quietly about her fight with Faith instead. But could she help it if it had just happened a few hours ago and was still on her mind? She bit down on her sandwich so hard her teeth ground together.

"...and this role is really cool because it's, like, a witch? And I just think witches are really cool. I mean, how awesome would it be if we could completely change our reality through a simple snap of our fingers? Really cool! But I don't know. You should have seen me try to act in high school." Willow shook her head frantically. "It was a nightmare. What if I still have stage fright and embarrass myself? I don't wanna do that, I mean new school, new opportunity to not be such a loser… But I did promise myself I would try new things. And Tara thinks I should go for it. What do you think?"

Buffy snapped her gaze away from a spot in the distance where she'd been staring. "Huh?" she blinked and the glazed look disappeared from her eyes.

"Uh, I was just asking if you think I should try out for the role?"

"Oh, yeah, I was totally listening! And yes, I definitely think you should do...that." Buffy sighed. "I'm sorry, I was spacing out. I'm just...distracted."

"Oh, that's okay!" Willow's hands fluttered. "Y-you don't have to listen to what I'm saying, I probably was totally boring you with my rambling. Sorry, I'll stop." She made a zipper motion over her mouth.

Buffy shook her head. "No! No, that's definitely not it. I was just thinking." She frowned.

"Oh...what were you thinking about?"

Buffy sighed. "Faith. God, she's so annoying. We got into a fight, and now I just feel...ugh. I mean, it was completely her fault, but still. I guess I'm not used to fighting with people. I mean, not really."

Willow looked at Buffy with big eyes. "Who's Faith? Another new friend?"

"Oh, no, she's...no. She's my roommate, that's all." Buffy rolled her eyes. "Some roommate."

"W-what were you guys fighting about?"

"Well, on top of her being an overall rude, pushy, obnoxious person, she's totally irresponsible. We went to a party together, and she ditched me the whole time. I mean, who does that?!"

"I-"

"And then, what, I'm supposed to feel bad for saying we're not gonna be friends? Please. That's just the way it is." Buffy cracked open her water bottle and chugged from it viciously. "God!"

"O-oh...well, hmm. Um, I haven't met Faith so I don't know what to say...Sorry you're not getting along with your roommate though! That sucks. She d-does sound kind of...annoying. I guess I got lucky." Willow blushed slightly. "Just spend more time with us and you won't have to think about her. I still have to introduce you to Tara! I wish her schedule matched up with ours more."

Buffy waved her hand. "It's okay. I'm over it. And you're right, I just won't think about her. And from the way you describe Tara she sounds great. I can't wait." She smiled and linked her arm with Willow's as they stood up from the table. "So, tell me again about this acting role?"

But Buffy was thinking about Faith. All day long, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the irritated feeling and intrusive thoughts to leave her alone. And she dreaded going back to what was sure to be an uncomfortable dorm room. Finally she couldn't put it off any longer, and when she reached their room she tried to open the door and slip in while making as little noise as possible. When she got inside she realized she shouldn't have bothered. Faith wasn't there. Buffy lay awake that night until later then she normally would have waiting for her—not because she _cared_ about where Faith was, but because she was anxious about any confrontation that was to come-but Faith never showed up.

For the next week, the girls hardly saw each other. Faith never seemed to be around; she kept odd hours, usually staying out all day and skulking in in the middle of the night, if she slept in their room at all. Buffy knew she was avoiding her. _So what if she is avoiding me? I don't care. Let her, she started this. But sometimes the room did feel lonely, and when Faith actually was there things were quiet and tense. This sure isn't how I pictured my first week of college going._

Gradually, Buffy felt her anger fading, and she realized she felt kind of bad and a little silly—"kind of" and "a little" being the main parts of that sentence. _Still...okay, that night may not have been the most pleasant one of my entire existence, but this is college...maybe things are just done differently here and I need to catch up. And Faith is a different person than me after all, it's not like I can control her._ (Not like how you controlled people in high school, Buffy's annoying inner voice spoke up, but she shushed it until it went away). _There's a possibility that I may have overreacted. But I'm still not sure if I can trust her enough to be friends with her, Buffy thought, stuck on how to solve the situation she currently found herself in. I'll let her make the first move. I mean, this can't last the whole year, right? I guess if she takes too long I can get her a mini muffin from the cafeteria or something._

Tuesday night, Buffy was sitting on her bed and chewing on a pen, going over the math notes that Willow had written out for her. Things were starting to make a little more sense, and that was mostly due to Willow's help. It also helped that Buffy was studying way more than she ever had in high school. Of course, her lack of a very active social life was what contributed to that rather than her burning desire for good grades, but whatever.

Buffy looked up in surprise when she heard the door opening to see Faith walking in at a perfectly reasonable five o'clock, carrying a brown paper bag and her black vinyl back pack. Buffy tried to adjust her expression to one of casual disinterest and looked back down at her notebook.

Faith walked slowly to her unmade bed and threw her stuff down on it. She glanced over at Buffy and hesitated. "...Hey."

Buffy looked up again. "Hey."

Faith sat down and pulled a bag of chips out of her grocery bag, breaking it open. The room was silent for the next few minutes, interrupted only by Faith's loud crunching.

Buffy fidgeted and tried to do a math problem, but she couldn't concentrate. She tapped her pen against her paper.

Suddenly, as if she'd just thought of it, Faith reached into the paper bag and grabbed something out of it, throwing it across the small room and onto Buffy's bed. "Here. That's for you."

Startled, Buffy picked up the object off of her pink comforter, which turned out to be a bag of Jolly Ranchers. She had to stifle a smile. It was just so bizarre.

"Um...thanks?"

Faith shrugged smoothly. "I just figured...everyone likes candy."

"Well, that's probably true." This time Buffy actually did smile. "And I love Jolly Ranchers. Really, thanks for thinking of me." Faith shrugged again.

Buffy tried to think of something to say as the room descended into silence again.

Faith sighed from across the room. "Uh...I just wanted to say...sorry for screwin' up."

Buffy looked over to see Faith picking at her comforter, eyes down and frowning. She continued. "You were right, I shouldn't've ditched you when we were trying to hang." She looked up with big brown, sad looking puppy dog eyes that made Buffy melt (just a tiny bit though, like a centimeter).

"Oh..." Buffy cleared her throat. "Um, it's okay. Maybe we just got off on the wrong foot. I'm sorry too."

"Think we could start over? I'll do better, I promise."

Buffy was a little confused by the intensity she could hear buried in Faith's voice, but she smiled. "Definitely. I'd like that. And maybe it'll be good for us. It looks like we could both use some...practice with our social skills, let's say."

Faith frowned, then started smiling softly. "Speak for yourself, queen B. Me, I'm good."

Buffy rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at her, but she couldn't do anything about the smile stretching across her face and her relief that maybe things would work out after all.


End file.
